According to the DNR so would stocking the lake. The DNR has said that stocking won't make a noticeable or sustainable difference. They are only considering it because of pressure from the Capital. They know it won't work but in the end they have to do what the people who control funding tell them to do.

I have been fishing this lake since I was a child. My dad always took me out unless things were pretty rough. I remember the years that the "only way" to catch a walleye out there was with a jig and minnow. Then came along the lindy rig and this changed the game. More people caught fish. Then fishfinders, more people caught fish. Then the rumors of people catching fish on the flats came along. Bigger faster boats came along, and so did the technology of getting to them and back. More fish caught. But through all of these changes over the years, the limit was always 6 fish! We always had the ups and downs in fishing over the years. The great dead sea came from way back in the 60's.

But today, people think that they are more entitled when it comes to everything in society including hunting and fishing. They buy the best boats and equipment. The best hunting equipment. And they walk into the woods or out on the lake and just assume that they are going to get a ten pointer or a 10 pound walleye plus a limit every time. and when they don't...there has to be something wrong! And buy God the DNR has to fix this...and now! So out come the "professionals" with all the so called answers that they aren't sure of and we don't believe either!

In the last 10 years we have seen the slot reduced time and time again. The limit reduced, forage crashes, 400k allowable harvest to 40k in only a couple of years, but he fishing remains good and bad depending on the day. With plenty of 10 lbers, I've posted the pic's remember?

My take is this. There will always be big ups and downs in fishing and hunting. Except this, it's just natures way of protecting it's environment and selecting for better species that are more adaptable. Now if the professionals can do something to help reduce the bad years that would be great. But the reality is this, we humans can't fix this all the time and neither can the DNR! Learn to live with the fact the Mille Lacs has a reputation of being the "Great Dead Sea" for many decades and that likely will never change. And lets all stop the blame game and enjoy the good years and work on improving our game during the tough years!

Yes, mistakes have been made! But this lake will come back..it always has!

When fishing was tough as kid and my dad didn't feel like wasting his time there. We went other places until things picked up. Remember people, we have other lakes in this state that offer excellent fishing! Go give them a try! Fishing is fishing wherever you go!

I don't know if the DNR would even have to buy the cameras, they could just ask for volunteers and enough fisherman with Aqua-vus would probably show up to record the carnage. A documentary detailing the lives of walleyes stocked into Mille Lacs could be very interesting. The DNR could dye a small percentage and try to track what happens to them.

The Tribes have said they won't be netting next Spring, which is brave of them. According to this -

" But guide Mike Verdeja says the fishing this year has been phenomenal.

"I've seen a lot of lakes all over shut down completely by this time of the year and they're still biting here," he said. "And it's not because they're starving. These fish are fat.""

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/07/31/no-walleye-netting

- the lake is primed for a comeback DD predicts and if that happens a lot of people will believe it was because the Indians stopped netting.

Years ago, the DNR began stocking muskies. At the time, I think they thought that there was more than enough "forage-walleyes" to feed the growing population of these eating machines. Plus they factored in whitefish and perch, and so they thought things would be good! I think they were wrong! There are a lot of really big fish now, and they have to be making a huge dent in the populations of smaller fish.

Secondly, Sandburr is stating is well. Most of us have become pretty good fisherman. We have the tools, the equipment, the knowledge, and now the internet to help us even better. We the sportsman have to be the ones to control our own harvest needs, desires, and expectations. When the word gets out, everyone goes and the party is over very quickly!

This makes the highs end quicker and the lows last longer! We need to preach a more responsible sports mans motto!

Yeah, I have a cabin there. I gotta tell you the truth, though... I have never kept a of the fish I caught on the pond. I was bummed about the closing of walleye, but I have a blast with the smallies. My biggest problem is that I typically will fish both using the old-fashioned hook, bobber and leech. Now you tell me, am I gonna get busted for targeting 'eyes? If I want to keep fish, I will typically hit some other lakes.

On a side note, the patrols on the lake tend fall on the a-hole side. I got a neighbor, one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He was out last year and was approached by a patrol who claimed they saw him with binoculars putting multiple walleyes somewhere in his boat. He told me they literally dismantled his boat out on the water trying to find these fish as the neighbor kept telling them they weren't going to find anything. Sure enough, when the search was over, they just left. He had to get his boat to a dock to put it back together again. Everything was pulled out of all hatches, glove box, rod locker, etc. They even unscrewed parts of his boat underneath the rear seats to see if there was anything hidden under there. He was pissed. Methinks that these guys might be a bit overworked.

And on another side note... perhaps we should not allow depth-finders, sonars, fish-finders, cameras, gps, etc. Heck, maybe only allow fishing like grandpa used to fish... a rowboat and a cane pole. Now that would be a hoot! Definitely tongue-in-cheek here, but maybe we should think outside of the box a bit. Some of the spots I fish would take all day to get there by rowboat (you would have to allow night fishing again just to get a wet line) I bet you would never hit a 6 fish limit with no slot too! Better yet, let's just ban boats altogether, shore fishing only. That would REALLY make it easy on the DNR. They could just ticket any boat found on the water. We could alternate shores. East shore on odd days, West shore on even. Islands would be out of bounds. Why? No boats on the water! Okay, maybe allow island fishing, but you could only swim to them.